Infant and Children Mental Health

How do we help the youngest and most vulnerable members of our community when they experience trauma, violence and stress? No one wants to label a young child as having a mental health disorder. But they do occur and have the power to disrupt the usual healthy process of development. Treatment of young children is, in the strongest sense of the word, prevention. In the first five years we have the best chance to help prevent a broad range of later problems. Center for Psychological Services has the expertise to provide developmentally appropriate mental health evaluations and treatment for young children and their families.

Treatment for young children must be developmentally appropriate, trauma informed, and relational. The parent or caregiver is integral to treatment. In addition, treatment for young children should have demonstrated effectiveness. Center for Psychological Services is committed to the use of a continuum of evidence based practices. These are methods which have been researched in clinical trials and have been shown to be effective in producing positive outcomes for young children.

Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) (age birth to five) directly focuses on improving the bond between child (birth to five) and parent, which is a strong protective factor against outside harm and future mental, emotional, and social problems. CPP has been developed and used for children birth through five, with their parents, when they have experienced exposure to adult domestic violence, been the victims of neglect, abuse or trauma, or suffered traumatic separation from or loss of parents. Child parent psychotherapy helps parents recognize and resolve the issues from their own past which may interfere in present parenting.

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a psychotherapy approach for children and adolescents, ages four to eighteen, , who are experiencing significant emotional and behavioral difficulties related to traumatic life events. These may include post traumatic stress symptoms; fear, anxiety, depression, or traumatic grief. Individual and conjoint child and parent sessions are part of the therapy.

The In-School Behavioral Skills Program (ISBS) is offered to students in the Kearney Public Schools, Loup City Public Schools and Shelton Public Schools, in partnership between the Center for Psychological Services (CPS), The Public Schools and Region III Behavioral Health Services. The purpose of the ISBS is to provide in-school psychotherapy support and intervention to school-age children and their families to deal with emotional and behavioral problems. Psychotherapists coordinated with teachers, counselors and parents to improve behavior and social skills which are impacting school performance. The program combines education, family involvement, individual and group therapy to help students succeed at school and often at home as well.